 I had a late night brain wave that I wanted to share with you. I'm not really looking to expand our current range but when I do get the time, I love experimenting in the kitchen. I get really excited when I create a new flavour combination so wait for it...introducing Barenuts Dry Roasted Dukkah Macadamias!
This taste explosion seems so obvious to me now but most good dukkah's will feature macadamias or hazelnuts, but I figured why not create my own dukkah and then coat the nuts and voila our latest flavour was born. I have used varying spice to create this unique blend of herbs and spices including Tasmanian Pepperberry which gives the dukkah mix a lovely sweet peppery boost! Check out our list of stockists so you can satisfy your Barenuts fix!
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 My family and I have been visiting Fraser Island for as long as I can remember. My parents would wake us up in the wee hours and pile us all into the 4WD to make the barge by first light. These sparrow's fart missions were carefully planned by my Dad, so he could throw in a line for a fresh Tailor by lunch. He's a smart man my Dad.
The Island is only a 3 hour drive from Brisbane but when you are 5 years old, it felt like forever to get there and back then, with 4 kids my parents no doubt agreed 3 hours was a long time too. There is no place like Fraser Island and hands down, it is still my favourite place in the whole wide world. Even after travelling the world, I can still say that for those 3 weeks every September holidays, it was our home, beach camping at it's best....fresh fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'd take Fraser over a 5 star hotel any day. When we first moved to the farm, I remember thinking how lucky I felt to finally be calling the Fraser Coast home. We are blessed with a diverse and abundant food bowl including red claw, rosella, lychee, pineapple, liquorish and sugar cane farms all close by and we have access to some of the best seafood in Australia – which suits my pescetarian taste buds jusssssst fine! The Fraser Coast region plays host to several seafood festivals throughout Winter and August is home of the Hervey Bay Seafood Festival - the only seafood festival in Australia managed by the men and women who catch the seafood for you! So in honour of this weekend's event, I wanted to share some simple, yet fancy scallop recipes with you because fresh, pan seared or baked, they truely are my favourite seafood. Scallops 3-ways
Porcini Crusted with Cauliflower Macadamia Puree Place 1/2 cup Barenuts Natural Macadamia Nuts into a food processor and blitz into breadcrumbs. Place 1/2 doz dried porcine mushrooms and 2-3 tablespoons of macadamia mix into fine crumb. Roll scallops in mixture to coat. Set aside. Puree 1 x cup cooked cauliflower, 2-3 tablespoons of macadamia crumbs and a dash of milk/almond milk to get a thick consistency. Add lemon zest and lemon juice to taste. Roast or saute scallops and serve on warm cauliflower puree. Seared on Sundried Tomato + Wild Mushroom with Macadamia Truffle Vinaigrette Braise brown button mushrooms in a few splashes of white wine, thicken the mixture with some Barenuts Macadamia Nut Butter. To make the vinaigrette, blend together 2 x tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 3 x tablespoons of Barenuts Macadamia Nut Oil, 1/2 teaspoon truffle oil and salt to taste. Add 1/4 cup of macadamias and blend until chunky bite size pieces. Sear scallops and serve over the mushrooms. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Lemon Myrtle Macadamia Crusted with Sweet Potato Ragout Combine 1/4 cup of Barenuts Natural Macadamia Nuts and 1/4 cup of polenta (cornmeal). Coat scallops with the macadamia/polenta crust. Refrigerate. Saute diced sweet potato with some diced Barenuts Lemon Myrtle Macadamia Nut + shallots, until golden. Add diced cherry tomatoes and a dash or water or citrus and braise until tender, mashing the sweet potato slightly. Sear the scallops and serve over Ragout. Team with your favourite Pinot Grigio or Sav or Chardonnay.  My love affair with macadamia nut oil dates back to December 2014 when we first moved to the farm. I remember my taste buds literally exploding. As the subtle nutty aroma hit my lips, my belly agreed and said 'hello, I've been looking for you'. I knew I would never buy olive oil again and I haven't.
One of the things I love about this wonder oil is when you get it on your hands while cooking, no problemo! Simply rub it all over yourself! That's right folks, up your arms, down your legs, into your hands...all over your face because not only does it make you smell divine, but it has anti-ageing properties too. Let's just say, that Farmer Mick and I like to keep a bottle of macca oil (as we affectionately call it), in our bedroom because once you have a macca massage, you will never go back! Pillowtalk aside, macadamia nut oil is extremely versatile and can be used in almost any savoury or sweet recipe. With a beautiful nutty aroma that complements baking, salads and is perfect for stir frying (we love drizzling over fish) this super-oil has stolen my heart. The Bare facts about Macadamia Nut Oil
Seriously, no hard sell is required when it comes these Australian native bursts of goodness because look at all the greatness that each little nut contains!
I challenge you to the switch today, from olive oil that is...and rest assure, I'm not a complete oil snob just yet, I still buy truffle oil, avocado oil + coconut oil because I love them and mixed with macadamia nut oil, well that right there is a whole other post.  This recipe 'should' wow the pants off most fish-lovers, most food-lovers in general really because it's not only tasty it's dead easy! This is one of Farmer Mick's favourite meals and I get a real kick of 'clean-out-the-fridge' (COTF) meals because some of my best meals have been born this way....so this style of cooking suits me fine.
Farmer Mick will often complain that we have no food in the fridge and then I pull something like this out of my umm, hat and he will say every time without fail....'fish and three veg never tasted so good'! He's easy to please and this recipe is seriously easy. For this COTF meal, I was clearly favouring my purple veggies at the time so I thought why not use them all at the same time and alas this colourful creation was born. What you'll need These quantities will make enough for 2 people Fresh salmon fillets (any fish works fine) 3 x purple carrots (or any colour will do) 1 x sweet potato (you could use purple to really purp up the occasion!) 1/2 x purple/white cabbage shredded 1 x cup baby peas (I often use sugar snap peas, beans or brussel spouts) Dash of almond milk 1/2 teaspoon of Nuttlex (or any butter) 1 x tablespoon wholegrain mustard A dash of apple cider vinegar A swig of Barenuts Macadamia Nut Oil Generous drizzle of Barenuts Macadamia Nut Butter Fresh parsley Fresh dill 1 x lemon - half for the cabbage mix + extra for drizzling over the salmon Method Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Boil carrots and sweet potato until soft. Mash or smash with a fork. Add butter + milk and a generous amount of fresh parsley and freshly cracked pepper. Set aside and reheat just prior to serving up. Place salmon on baking tray. Drizzle with Barenuts Macadamia Nut Butter and a squeeze of lemon juice. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the butter goes crusty. Meanwhile, in a saucepan combine the shredded cabbage + peas + wholegrain mustard + apple cider vinegar + squeeze of lemon juice. Simmer on low with a lid on for approximately 10 mins. Season with freshly cracked black pepper. Remove salmon from the oven. In a bowl, arrange half of the smashed carrot + sweet potato mixture. On the other side, add the pickled cabbage + peas mixture. Top with the salmon fillet + squeeze of lemon juice + fresh dill. Happy Friday y'all!  As a kid, I used to hate the smell of manure. Every time it looked like rain, my Mother would get a load of manure delivered. Then the rain would come and she would get outside with her umbrella and shovel it all over the lawn and in the gardens. I would sit and watch her from inside the house, but I never quiet understood why she would want to be outside in the rain shovelling smelly manure?
Well I certainly understand why now. It's a labour of love and that distant earthy smell that I used to find so overpowering is now one of my favourite smells! That earthy smell makes me feel so happy. We just got a semi-trailer full of compost delivered today and one might say ole Farmer Mick and I are high off the fumes from this magic manure and will do for our trees! A lot of time goes into helping the trees prepare for their flowering season. Farmer Mick has been a busy boy and getting all of the compost out before the rain comes is vital. The compost needs to settle into the earth nicely so that we can still continue to harvest what nut is left on the ground and in the trees over the coming months. Applying vital nutrients via foliar sprays is also a very important part of nourishing the trees. Timing is crucial because the trees absorb the vital nutrients through their leaves and making sure the coverage is perfect. So now as Spring is almost upon us, we can sit back and watch the trees soak up all that goodness - it's really my favourite time of the season. With each day, the natural pollinators work overtime and the orchard is absolutely abuzz with activity! |
City Chick turned Country Chick living a wholesome, free range all round idyllic life with Farmer Mick, our Baby Barenut & Rudi the Staffy Red Cattle Dog at our Macadamia Nut Farm on the Fraser Coast. Archives
February 2018
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